In an effort to improve safety in the Uptown District, the City of Port Alberni has purchased a building on Third Avenue for Bylaw services and the Community Policing team.

The building was purchased in alignment with Port Alberni city council’s Corporate Strategic Plan goal of fostering a complete community that is safe, healthy and inclusive. The new Public Safety Building is scheduled to open mid 2021 once renovations are complete.

With winter still ahead, Anacla and Bamfield have already seen seasonal power outages, reminding residents of their notoriously unreliable electrical service.

“We’ve had at least two now,” said Trevor Cootes, Huu-ay-aht First Nation councillor.

“This is the time of year when I get reminded of other considerations of importance to this energy project,” added Cootes, who is responsible for the Huu-ay-aht economic development portfolio. “Huu-ay-aht struggles quite often and it’s out of the hands of B.C. Hydro.”

A new Indigenous-themed podcast has begun in Victoria.

And Tchadas Leo, the host and creator of the podcast titled Our Native Land, is hoping to include plenty of Nuu-chah-nulth content on his show, which is being recorded out of the CHEK TV studio in Victoria.

The podcast is being billed as one that will explore all things Indigenous and First Nations. It will include interviews and discussions about cuisine, culture, heritage as well as other topics focused on Vancouver Island but also including other parts of the world.

Ancient cedar trees within Nuu-chah-nulth territory have become the focus of a battle between environmental groups and forestry operators.

In November the Ancient Forest Alliance reported that a grove containing massive Western red cedars east of Nitinaht Lake had been logged. Located in Ditidaht First Nation territory and part of the Caycuse River watershed, the trees were still standing when the environmental group previously visited the site in April.

Huu-ay-aht First Nations (HFN) are pressing ahead this fall with construction of Anacla’s first community wastewater treatment system, considered a catalyst for local economic growth.

After decades of discussion, negotiation and planning, the $8-million wastewater project finally gained ground through a unique partnership between HFN, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC) and the research station’s supporting universities.

It has been nearly ten months since the province declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and seniors in care facilities remain in lockdown. Some fear that the impacts of long-term social isolation will negatively impact the mental health and well-being of those in long-term care homes.

One of his earliest memories is paddling around Hesquiaht territory with his grandmother, Katherine Lucas, collecting medicinal plants.

“She was my mom’s mother and when I was about seven or eight years old, I remember she would row us to places to pick medicine,” said Qaamina Hunter of Ahousaht.

He recalls seeing his grandmother standing by a river. She called her grandson to stand by her side while she did a prayer chant.

“Then we would go pick medicine,” said Hunter.

Indigenous leaders have reacted with surprise and dismay while cautiously lending support to a draft framework for entrenching Indigenous rights in Canadian law.

Federal Justice Minister David Lametti tabled Bill C-15 in the House of Commons Dec. 3, calling it “a significant step forward on the shared path to reconciliation for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples alike.”

“Once passed, this will bring us another step closer to a brighter future for Canada, one where all our children and grandchildren can prosper and thrive,” Lametti said.

Amid a season of escalating COVID-19 cases across the country, a positive announcement from Ottawa surprised the country Monday morning. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that vaccines for the respiratory disease could be in Canada as early as next week, due to an agreement secured with the American drug company Pfizer.

As B.C.’s top doctor urges British Columbians to avoid all non-essential travel, many hotels and resorts in Tofino have closed their doors to leisure visitors.

Hotel Zed is among them. But as the newly established hotel continues construction, it has remained open to accommodate the tradesmen building its restaurant. Sitting otherwise empty, general manager and Tofino councillor Britt Chalmers said that they wanted “to do something to help out the community.”